1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a display, and more particularly, to a display and a method for signal transmission of the display.
2. Description of Related Art
Various electronic devices, e.g. TVs, laptop computers, monitors and mobile communication terminals, have display devices. The display devices are requested to be thin and light in order to save the volume, weight, and the cost of the electronic devices. To satisfy these requirements, various Flat Panel Displays (FPDs) have been developed as alternatives to more conventional cathode ray tube displays.
A Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is one kind of Flat Panel Display. Generally, an LCD device includes a timing controller, a source driver, a gate driver, and a panel. Image data received from an external host system, for example, are input to the LCD device. The timing controller of the LCD device converts the format of the inputted image data and generates control signals to control the source driver and the gate driver of the LCD device. The gate driver receives the control signals from the timing controller and applies gate signals to the gate lines of the panel to sequentially drive the gate lines. Relatively, the source driver applies analog driving voltages to the data lines of the LCD panel according to the control signals and data received from the timing controller. By applying voltages to a common electrode and pixel electrodes of the panel, the transparency of the liquid crystal in the corresponding pixels is changed under control such that an image can be displayed on the panel.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified block diagram of a conventional LCD. In order to transmit signals from the timing controller 110 to the source driver 120, a plurality of pins are required. For example, the timing controller 110 uses a plurality of I/O pins to transmit setting signals, such as TP1 (synchronous signal), CLK (clock signal), STH (start pulse pattern), POL (polarity signal), DIR (shift direction control signal), MODE1 (mode control signal), MODE2 (mode control signal), FME (frame signal input signal), LP (power mode signal), RS (driving setting signal), VA (slew rate enhancement signal), VB (slew rate enhancement signal), and DD (display data signal), to the source driver 120.
The display data signal DD contains information for displaying images, and the source drive 120 transforms the display data signal DD into analog driving voltages to drive the LCD panel 130 to display images.
As shown in FIG. 1, too many pins are occupied between the timing controller 110 and the source driver 120 such that signal pads for connecting the I/O pins can not be reduced. Consequently, the source driver 120 has a large circuit area, and the routing area of a PCB of the LCD for accommodating the wires between the timing controller 110 and the source driver 120 is increased.